


Get To Know You

by notimetoblog



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Fluff, F/M, Nothing but sweetness here, bucky fluff, fluffy fluffy fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 04:41:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17933027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notimetoblog/pseuds/notimetoblog
Summary: A Secret Santa gift exchange brings two unsuspecting Avengers closer.





	Get To Know You

**Author's Note:**

> Now I know what youre all thinking.. a secret santa fic in February? and the answer is yes. I was terrible and missed the deadline for a writingchallenge! I also have to mention that i combined the prompt with a lovely request i got over on tumblr. I hope you all enjoy it!! Thanks so much for reading!!

It was tradition they had assured him.

Every year since they had first come together, the Avengers partook in a Secret Santa gift exchange. 

With a brilliant smile, Steve had extended the invitation to join the exchange to Bucky. Something about Christmas, perhaps it was the soft snow on the ground, the scent of cinnamon in the air, or the countless of lights adorning the already bright city of New York, made Steve’s mood that much merrier. The guy was known to be the embodiment of sunshine, most people more than willing to overlook the hundreds of asses he had kicked, but Steve at Christmas was sunshine to the one-thousandth power. 

That is how Bucky had found himself in his room, dreading the moment he agreed to be a part of this gift exchange. He had known Steve for decades, and still, he had yet to develop immunity to Steve’s crazy ideas. This lack of protection had gotten him in dozens of fights when they were children, had caused him to worry constantly about his best friend, and had now forced him to shop for the person he had the most trouble understanding. 

He didn’t know what it was about you. Neither of you had ever purposely done anything to offend the other, but something within you both just didn’t seem to mesh well.

He would be too loud, you would accuse. And you would be too impatient, he would retort. It would be a cycle of severe eye rolling and exaggerated sighing whenever you two were around the other. 

Looking back, there wasn’t a definite moment when it had begun. It seemed the constant annoyance you felt around the other was just an ever-present feature of your interactions. 

He looked again at the little piece of paper he had drawn out of the top hat Tony had somehow had at hand, your name written across the slip of paper in Tony’s rushed writing. He had no way out of this. Sure, he wasn’t exactly fond of you, but ruining this part of your Christmas by not getting you anything would be too low a blow. 

Or maybe, his mind quickly provided, there was a way he could get out of this. 

“Who’d you get?” He asked Steve as soon as he found him in his office. “For the Santa thing, who’d you get?”

“You’re funny, Buck,” Steve replied with a laugh. “It’s called Secret Santa. Emphasis on the Secret. It’s not ‘tell-all-your-friends Santa,’ or ‘tell-me-and-I’ll-you Santa,’ or even ‘I-already-know-anyway Santa. It’s Secret Santa.”

“Wanna know who I got?”

“Bucky, I already told you its Secret San-” 

“I got Y/N,” Bucky said before Steve got a chance to finish his sentence. He sat directly across from Steve, ignoring the way his friend groaned at his outburst. 

“Why did I ever think you’d play by the rules?” Steve said before beginning to laugh. “Y/N huh? What are you gonna get her? Your undying love?”

“I’m not getting her anything,” Bucky began, and he did not miss the clear look of disapproval Steve sent his way. “Don’t give me that look; I’m not getting her anything because you’re going to buy her presents. We’re trading pieces of paper, Steve.”

Bucky hoped his friend would just throw him a bone and go with the plan. Just this once. 

“It hurts me to see you fail, Bucky,” Steve said with a chuckle. “But this is just hilarious. You thought it would work?”

“Jesus, Steve, the girl hates me. I know nothing about her, how am I supposed to get her a gift?”

“You’re an observant guy; you’ll figure it out.”

“Trade with me,” Bucky tried again.

“Not a chance, pal.”

–

You’re an observant guy; Bucky replayed Steve’s words in his mind as he walked towards the gym. 

He tended to fall back into his routine of training whenever he was too lost in his head. The calculated punches and combinations a welcomed contrast to the chaotic thoughts in his mind. 

It seemed, however, that even this practiced routine was no match to that little slip of paper he had left in his room. 

He was an adult of goodness sake, he thought to himself, an adult that had faced enormous amounts of pressure. World War II and actual decades of torture hadn’t been enough to break him, yet this exchange seemed to consume his mind. 

He found the punching bag, his punches naturally falling into his usual choreography. 

Left, Right, Left, Right, Right. 

A candle! The thought suddenly popped into his mind, and he felt a small smile creeping onto his lips as he looked down to his fists. Punching stuff just sometimes did the trick. Not the greatest of coping mechanisms, he admitted, but it cleared his mind and the idea of gifting you a candle didn’t seem that bad of an idea. It would be something he could have wrapped, maybe even throw a little bow on it to make it look even more festive. Yes, he hadn’t exactly ever seen you get one for yourself, but it was a gift, nonetheless. And now that he thought about it, he might still have one stashed away in his closet. 

Sometimes the people he came across on the street or at a public event felt the need to give all members of the team gifts, a nice way to express their gratefulness to the team for their never-ending quest to keep the planet as safe as possible. He had received teddy bears dressed as both Captain America and himself, cards and letters, bath bombs, weird little figurines with giant heads of each member of the team, and one woman had gifted him a candle. She had hurriedly let him know that the aroma the candle gave was supposed to help one relax after a stressful day or a stressful life in his case. He had never actually lit it, so he could just hand it to you. 

His punches gained more strength as his mind tried to become convinced with the idea of regifting something to you. He knew it would be the easy way out. Knew that people like Steve and Tony would put more thought and effort into their gifts and would most definitely show up with more than just a candle, but he had no idea what else to do. It was not like he could fall back on years of friendship to figure something out. Things had started on the wrong foot with you and had stayed that way ever since. 

Left, Right, Left, Right, Right.

He tried his best to maintain his practiced routine up, hoping it would help him once again reach a new and better idea, but, instead, he felt as little by little his mind slipped back to this morning. 

–

“I really do hope the sky clears up tonight,” he heard you talking to Wanda as he stepped into the kitchen. 

Both of your attention captured by something on your phone seemingly hoping the rainstorm that had blown in last night would go away soon. In pajamas, you both seemed like two normal girls. The blue of the stars adorning your pajamas nicely complimenting the small polka-dots on Wanda’s. Nothing in your relaxed body language hinted that you could both in fact easily take down any threat you encountered. Bucky didn’t particularly like you, but he had to admit you were great at what you did. And Wanda was just as strong. 

He also wore his pajamas, a simple shirt and sweats, but he assumed his body language never looked as relaxed and casual as both yours and Wanda’s did. He somehow always felt the weight of his experiences on his shoulders. 

“Well, let’s try to stay positive,” he heard Wanda’s reply as he walked past you both to the pot of coffee. With a swirl of the pot, he noted there was just enough coffee left for one more cup.

“Everybody had their share of coffee, yet?” He asked, not bothering to turn his body to face you both. 

“Yeah,” Wanda responded, looking up from your phone. “And since you’re the last one, you have to wash it,” she laughed. 

“Great,” he smiled. “Maybe I’ll just leave the tiniest bit of coffee in the pot to have some other sucker wash it instead.”

“Seems like something only you would do,” came your response, biting and cold. 

“Perhaps, and you would probably be the sucker who would end up washing it,” he laughed. 

“In your dreams, Barnes,” he heard you say as he placed the pot in the sink.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he began, knowing just how much you hated him slipping pet names, “you are never part of my dreams.”  
–

Every encounter he had with you tended to follow that pattern. You would both be fine, simply going about your business, until one of you decided to say something to the other. It had gotten so bad, that Steve had banned you both from working together on missions. That had been embarrassing for both you and him. You had always tried to exhibit professionalism around the other, but sometimes it was just too hard. 

The sudden image of the last mission you had been on together suddenly sprung up in Bucky’s mind. His punches once again picking up speed as he reminisced.  
–

Rolling his shoulders back a few times, Bucky tried to ease the tension that followed him wherever he went. There was very little space between you and him, though, so he tried his best not to bump into you. 

Perched on a rooftop, you both lay on your stomachs, eyes trained on the street down below, the cold of the ground somehow making its way past the layers of clothing you both wore. It was a very chilly night, and despite the concentration, you were both trying your best to keep, the ever-present discomfort was hard to ignore. You both knew missions weren’t the most comfortable. Nobody ever dreamed of finding some comfort while on missions, but that human instinct to find some warmth or some form of safety always lingered. So, Bucky rolled his shoulders one more time and sighed when the comfort still refused.

You were somewhere in Europe after Steve had received new intel on your target. It was a small town, but the newest part of it boasted a few office buildings that gleamed in the night. Still, it could not compare to the beautiful skyline of New York.

You had found the tallest of these buildings, directly across from a restaurant that was reported as a front for something more sinister; a place where your target couldn’t seem to stay away from.

“Maybe he just likes the food,” Bucky suddenly said with a sarcastic chuckle after the third hour of nothing. His muscles felt tenser than ever, and it was becoming harder to stay still simply observing when there was nothing new to observe. The patrons of the restaurant all walked out in a normal fashion. Bucky could find nothing out of place, and it was driving him insane. For all he knew they were wasting time and freezing just for the hell of it. 

He had expected a sigh or groan from you, the typical sounds you made whenever you were around him, but after hearing nothing, he turned to you, finding you staring up at the night sky.

“Well, I’m sure with your level of concentration we’ll catch him soon enough.”

His snarky comment caught your attention, and your eyes flashed to him, a hint of annoyance already brewing in them.

“What?” You asked, your tone just as chilly as the night air around you. 

“Our target is down there, princess, not up in the sky. Try to stay focused.”

“You know what, Barnes? You have no right criticizing my level of concentration when you’ve done nothing but complain for the last three hours. So maybe try shutting up for more than ten seconds, grandpa.”

“I doubt you could concentrate for more than ten seconds anyway, so why should I bother setting up?”

“Because you’re driving both of us insane, that’s why.”

“I don’t think I’m the cause of that in your case, doll.”

“Will either of you explain to me why I’m getting video feed of your target out and about the restaurant without either one of you tailing him?” You unexpectedly heard the sound of Steve’s irritated voice through your earpiece. 

“Shit!” Bucky heard you say before he had a chance to say the same thing. Quickly getting on your feet, you pressed a finger to your earpiece and said, “Copy, Rogers. I have a visual of him. He’s about a block away from our position. In pursuit now.”

The day you had arrived back home had been brutal. You had both missed your target exiting the restaurant and shaking hands with a new set of accomplices that had not been on the radar of the team before. Luckily, Steve’s over-cautionary ways had caused him to hack into the video feeds of the neighboring office buildings and shops. The faces of both accomplices had been captured, and their whereabouts tracked even after the slip-up. 

Steve, though, had not been happy even after all suspects had been captured. His clear tone of disapproval at your constant bickering delivered the final decision that you and Bucky would never work on a mission alone together. And he had kept his word ever since.  
–

That incident had only further driven a wedge between you both. Now you looked at him not only with annoyance but with a sort of resentment for being the cause behind a formal reprimand from Steve. He knew you were proud, the level of professionalism you wished to always carry yourself with was very similar to his and knowing that he had been behind that almost flawed mission, had irritated him. 

So now that he thought about it with more context, a candle would definitely not do. 

Sighing, he swept his hand across his sweaty forehead, hoping to keep the salty drops from getting into his eyes. 

He had kept his punches consistent, following his familiar pattern.

Left, Right, Left, Right, Right.

But the tiredness he often felt began creeping into his system once more. Slowly he brought his punches to a stop, allowing himself a drink of water. 

With a groan, he realized that he had not brought a bottle with him, so he began his trip to the kitchen.  
–

“Why?” He heard your voice from the kitchen just like he had this morning. This time, though, you were alone, and your voice sounded more defeated than it did earlier. 

It was different seeing you now that he knew he would have to think of something to buy you for the exchange. He almost felt a need to reach out to you, maybe even get to know you a little better in order for him to have a better idea of what to get you. But he knew you would probably brush him aside before he even got a chance. 

Just like before, he noticed you were observing something on your phone, your eyebrows furrowed behind the galaxy case.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. 

You’re an observant guy; Steve had said, so Bucky made a note to do as much observing of you as possible in the next few minutes. 

“Nothing that concerns you,” you responded without looking up from your phone. 

“Jesus. I’m just trying to help,” he said, the tension in his shoulders growing stronger as the seconds ticked by.

“The last time you tried to help,” you began, pausing for a beat as you observed him rolling his shoulders back to ease the tension. “Now that I think of it, you’ve never tried to help so don’t even bother starting now.” 

He had seen this coming, of course, but he could at least now say that he had tried. 

He watched as your gaze went back to your phone, furiously typing away. 

Turning on his heel, he went over to the cupboard looking for the bottle he used for workouts. Outside the window, he noticed the storm had not let up. Rain continued to pour outside without a sign of it stopping anytime soon. 

And then it hit him. 

You had been hoping for the skies to clear and they obviously hadn’t.

“Guess you’re just disappointed the rain hasn’t stopped, huh,” he said cautiously, hoping he could get a better sense for you if he played nice. 

“What?” You asked, confused at his words.

“You mentioned earlier that you wanted the skies to clear and they haven’t. Guess that’s why you’re disappointed.”

He almost laughed at how wide your eyes got. It seemed he was right and you hadn’t expected him to figure it out, let alone try to. 

“I just wanted to see something,” you admitted, an amused look in your eyes as you noticed how Bucky had stood up a little straighter after realizing his guess had been right. “Can’t see it with this rain, so I guess I’ll have better luck next time.” 

With that, you got up from the seat and left the kitchen, leaving a somewhat satisfied Bucky behind to fill his water bottle. 

“FRIDAY?” He said, hoping maybe the observant AI could him a bit more. “Any chance you know what Y/N wanted to see tonight?” 

“ I believe the Geminids Meteor Shower was supposed to be visible from New York tonight, Sergeant Barnes. The weather, however, has made it impossible to observe.”

Something inside Bucky suddenly clicked. 

The Geminids Shower, the way you had so distractedly stared up at the sky on the mission-almost-gone-wrong, the stars on your pajamas, the galaxy case for your phone. 

YOU LOVED THE SKY!

You liked observing the stars, and it took all the will power in Bucky not to let out a yell of relief. He had figured you out or had at least found a very good starting point to begin looking for your gift. And it would not be a wrapped candle; Bucky was sure of that.  
–

After a few weeks of looking for sky-related gifts, Bucky could barely contain his excitement. The night was finally here. The team was all dressed up, Bucky wearing a nice suit to keep with the black-tie dress code Tony had implemented. He would finally be able to share with you the gifts he had gotten you. He had surprised himself as he selected your gifts. He had assumed he didn’t know much about you, but as he searched the internet and the stores for your presents, he found himself almost instantly deciding whether you would like a present or not. 

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t proud of the gifts he had selected. He had put some thought behind them, and he now understood why Steve enjoyed this tradition so much. The feeling of giving was like no other. The fact that through his thoughts and actions he could make somebody smile, even if that person hated him, made his heart beat faster. He enjoyed the rush it brought him so as Tony announced it was time to exchange gifts he almost ran to where he had dropped off his gifts. 

Carrying a small manila envelope he had decorated to make it look more Christmassy, a larger box, and a rectangular present, he walked to where the Avengers had gathered, each of them with their set of presents beside them. 

Steve volunteered to go first, revealing he had been Secret Santa for Wanda. With a lovely smile, Wanda had gotten up from her place and given Steve a warm hug. 

Wanda, more than happy with the presents Steve had gotten her, announced she had gotten gifts for Tony. 

Finally, it was Bucky’s turn, and the nerves that suddenly filled his system caught him by surprise. Because yes, he was proud of his choices, but what if you didn’t like them? What if you hated the presents he had gotten you. 

If he had shown up with a candle and you hated it, he would have understood. But after putting so much thought and effort, he felt himself desperately hoping you would like them.

He turned to Steve, his best friend who had refused to switch papers with him, and who now gave him an encouraging smile. 

“I was Secret Santa for Y/N,” Bucky said, thinking it was better to go for it once and for all, tear the band-aid in one go. 

The entire room gasped, Steve even joining in with a terribly acted jaw-drop. 

He cautiously looked to you and held back the chuckle that bubbled up at seeing you so surprised. 

“I really hope you like your presents,” he admitted a bit bashfully before adding, “Merry Christmas, Y/N.”

Slowly you got up from your spot and approached him. He found a bit of suspicion in your eyes but smiled as he handed you the gifts he had gotten you. 

“Open them!” Tony suddenly shouted, starting a chant among the team. 

“Ok! Ok!” You tried to appease them. “I will, but only because if something explodes, I want you all to be my witnesses,” you laughed.

“I can assure you; nothing will explode, doll,” Bucky said, dropping a pet name for fun.

He hoped you would begin with the larger box, the other two being a bit more personal and much to his surprise, you did.

Piece by piece you peeled back the wrapping paper, stopping abruptly as the image on the box came into view. 

“Is this?” You began, a hand coming up to cover the surprise so clearly written on your features. “Is this an Orion Sirius 8?” 

“I believe it is,” Bucky said, a smile fighting for its place on his lips. 

“Bucky, this is one of the best telescopes out there,” you said as you removed the rest of the wrapping paper. “How did you know?”

“I’m an observant guy,” he laughed, looking over to Steve who looked more like a proud dad. “Open this one next,” Bucky said, handing you the smaller rectangular present. 

After a few seconds, you finally looked away from the telescope, taking the present Bucky had handed you. 

Another gasp fell past your lips as you finished unwrapping what was now clearly a white frame. 

“Bucky,” you said, barely above a whisper as you traced the circular shape in the middle of the framed art piece. “It’s a star chart for the day I was born.”

A large blue poster was perfectly centered in the frame. A white circle was the focal point of the poster. In it, was the exact star alignment on the day that you were born — the shapes of the constellations faintly connected with thin white lines. Below the depiction of the stars was a quote in a beautiful white font, “Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.”

“I was wrong to tell you to not look up at the sky,” Bucky said as he walked a little closer to you, recalling the words he had teased with on your last mission together. “You should always look up at the stars. It tends to be more beautiful up there than here,” he said with a gentle smile. 

“I don’t even know what to say,” you said looking to him, your own gentle smile appearing on your lips. 

“Well, there’s one more,” Bucky chuckled, “so you can think of something as you open it.”

He handed you the manila envelope, heart beating fast at how much you loved his presents. The room almost felt empty, as if the Avengers weren’t looking on at you both.

With graceful fingers you opened the manila envelope, pulling out a certificate. 

“Star certificate,” you read out loud, “A celestial body in the sky has been named in honor of Y/N Y/L/N and is officially located in the constellation of Orion. This star’s astronomically verified position is right ascension 6:04:12.4, declination 18:29:42, magnitude 10.88.”

“They assured me that would make sense to you,” Bucky said, afraid they had lied to him.

“Yes,” you laughed, and Bucky’s heart beat faster as he noticed the few tears in your eyes. “I can find the star with those guides.”

“You can look at it with your new telescope,” Steve chimed in.

“Right,” you said as you wiped a tear away from your eye. “Thank you, Bucky. This really means a lot to me. Thank you.”

“Merry Christmas, Y/N,” Bucky repeated, unable to voice how happy he was at your reaction. 

“Guess it’s my turn to give my gifts,” you replied with a smile. 

Walking back to his original place, Bucky stopped at the sound of your voice. 

“But don’t go too far because I was actually your Secret Santa,” you giggled.

The room was suddenly filled with the laughter and cheers of the team, all very much enjoying how Secret Santa had brought you both a bit closer. 

“I’m not sure my gifts will compare to the ones you got me, so I’m very sorry in advance,” you shyly said as you handed him the first gift. 

“I’m sure they’ll be great,” Bucky said, trying to keep the blush he felt from becoming even more intense. 

You had handed him a gift bag and opening it revealed a blanket. 

“It’s a calming comfort blanket,” you explained, “It’s a weighted blanket that’s supposed to help you get better sleep.”

Letting his finger glide through the soft material, he looked up to meet your gaze. Again, it somehow felt it was only you and him. 

“I really needed one of these,” he smiled. 

“Open the next one,” you prompted him. “There’s two more after that.”

The next gift was a large box, similar to the telescope he got you.

“Is it my very own Orion Sirius 8?” He teased, laughing as you shook your head no.

Instead of a telescope, the box displayed a massaging seat topper. 

Deep-kneading, read the box. 

“For your tense shoulders,” you whispered.

It was then that Bucky realized how much more of the other you both noticed. Sure, you hadn’t necessarily gotten along, but you lived in the same space, ate in the same space, worked together, trained together. There was no way, either of you knew nothing about the other. 

You knew about his lack of sleep and his tense shoulders, and he now knew of your love for the sky.

A new dynamic was beginning to take shape right before his eyes, and Bucky silently hoped you felt it too. 

“I hope it helps you relax,” you smiled as you handed him the next gift. 

This time it was a smaller gift bag. 

He carefully felt around it and pulled out a small book. 

“I didn’t know what else to get you, and I obviously couldn’t ask you. So, I got some info out of Steve. Sorry Rogers,” you said as you turned to look at Steve who wore a shocked expression,” but the breakfast I shared with you had a more sinister intention behind it.”

It was Bucky’s turn to gasp as he opened the book. The very first page read, For the Rainy Days. And as he turned each page, his heart beat faster and faster. You had filled an entire album of pictures of him and the ones he loved the most. He had no idea how you had done it, but looking back at him were pictures of his mom and sisters, a smaller looking Steve, and a much younger Bucky. Pictures he had figured had been lost or destroyed by the passing of time. Each page brought a new memory with it, a new sense of happiness, and he was unsure how to express his appreciation for it.

“I don’t know what to say,” Bucky admitted before calling Steve over to take a look at the pictures. 

“This is amazing, Y/N,” Steve agreed. 

“There’s one more,” you giggled, carefully taking the album form Bucky and handing him the last of his presents. 

Bucky unwrapped the present unsure of what was next. How could he ever thank you properly for such thoughtful gifts? 

His last present turned out to be an instant camera. Something he was definitely not expecting.

With curious eyes, he turned to you and felt himself smile as you explained this present as well. 

“For the new memories you want to capture,” you simply said, and he swore his heart gave out right then and there. 

Because he wasn’t expecting it, but the desire to start all over with you was too great to ignore. The need to get to know you, beyond your like for stars, was unlike anything he had ever experienced.

So, with his heart on his sleeve, he approached you after the party had ended and asked if you would let him get to know you. 

And with the prettiest smile he had seen, you responded.

“I would love to get to know you, too.”


End file.
